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The First Battle of San Antonio (1985).
What became known as the First Battle of San Antonio took place only a week into the invasion. While the ComBloc had numbers in both available forces, armor, and artillery, the American defenders prepared to "make a second Alamo out of it", and they did not disappoint. While some U.S. forces were ordered out-namely the Air Training Command elements at Randolph AFB, the USAF training elements at Lackland AFB, and the various headquarters and support elements at Fort Sam Houston, other forces moved in. The 3-163 ACR (TX NG), a USMC reserve artillery battalion from Dallas, and battalion-sized task forces from the 1st Cavalry Division and 2nd Armored Divisions at Fort Hood all moved into the San Antonio area, while other National Guard and Reserve elements began shedding their usual combat support role and acting as provisional infantry. In all, there were two brigade equivalents in the city, hardly enough for a proper defense, but with the I-10 line breached on both sides, III Corps at Fort Hood wanted as much armor from the three divisions (1st Cavalry, 2nd Armored, and 49th Armored) as possible to fight a mobile war north of the I-10. The ComBloc, by contrast, had ample forces available. The Soviets committed the 20th Guards Army, with the 6th Guards, 14th, and 19th Guards MRDs, the 9th East German Tank Division, a Soviet air assault battalion, and both an independent tank regiment and an independent MRR under its command, while the FARM (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Mexico) sent two divisions (Division Monterrey and Division San Luis Potosi). Besides the East German tankers, one other East German unit made its appearance: the 40th Air Assault Regiment, built around the prewar 40th "Wili Sanger" Parachute Battalion. It should be noted that the two Mexican divisions were not under 20th Guards Army, but were in a corps-sized element given the grandiose designation of 4th Army. The attack on the city started on D+7, 10 September, with a heavy artillery bombardment and an air assault on San Antonio International Airport by the 1st Battalion, 40th Air Assault Regiment, while the Soviet air-assault troopers hit Kelly AFB. Simultaneously, the Soviet and Mexican forces moved in on the city, meeting fierce resistance from not only U.S. forces, but from armed civilians. One Soviet officer (a battalion commander in the 19th GMRD) noted that "everyone in this blasted state of Texas seems to carry a weapon. If that's the case, It'll be Afghanistan a dozen times over." That same officer wound up surrendering the remnants of the 20th Guards Army in the Brownsville Pocket, his prediction having come true in the meantime. The 6th GMRD pushed in along U.S. 90, overruning Lackland AFB and relieving the Soviet air assault troopers at Kelly AFB, but had serious problems as the defenders, lacking the strength to stand up to the full division (a single battalion task force from the 2nd Armored Division), simply laid back, and attacked the 6th GMRD's supply trains as they entered the city. One Regiment had to be pulled back to sweep along U.S. 90, while the rest of the division pushed towards downtown San Antonio. On their left was the East German 9th TD, which simply went around the city to the west, cutting the I-10 and taking the Texas NG's Camp Bullis Military Reservation, before one of the division's regiments pushed to the San Antonio IAP. This regiment encountered mostly sniper fire and Molotov Cocktails from armed civilians and local police, and the reprisals the East Germans took set the tone for the rest of the campaign. In contrast, the 14th GMRD's push up I-35 was relatively easy, until it got to the I-10 East/U.S. 90 west junction, and there they met a polyglot force of Texas NG centered on the Cavalry squadron. The freeway bridges were blown in the attackers' faces, and the lead regiment found itself in a well-placed antiarmor ambush. BTR-70s went up in flames from TOW missiles and from LAW rocket launchers as the Texans gave the lead battalion a taste of the Soviets' own medicine that they had been dishing out since crossing the border. The Soviet infantry dismounted, and had to clear both sides of the I-35 against the Texans, who fell back only when forced to do so. Only when the 6th GMRD arrived along U.S. 90 was the issue decided, and the defenders fell back into the downtown area. The 19th GMRD, with an independent MRR attached, came in along U.S. 281 and I-37. They quickly seized the Brooks AFB complex, and were soon the first ComBloc forces into the downtown area. There, they encountered Marine and Army reservists, who made a stand at the I-10/I-37 junction. The fight was brief but bloody, with no quarter given. The 19th's single BTR regiment took the brunt of the fighting-and casualties, with one battalion losing all but one of its officers, and another battalion being reduced to company size, given the dismounted nature of the battle. However, the Soviets called in air support, and Su-25s, now based at Laredo, came in with rockets and bombs to clear a path for the attackers. A fresh regiment, mounted in BMP-2s, passed through and charged for the downtown, where they encountered the 1st Cav's element-a single tank battalion task force (M-1s and M-113s). The lead battalion was shot up, and a second battalion also suffered heavily. Maj. Gen. Gennady Lysenko, the divisional commander, decided to halt and await further orders. He advised Col. Gen. Alexi Trimenko, the Army commander, that it would be best if the Mexicans came forward. Trimenko agreed, and both Mexican divisions, infantry and a few T-54s for the most part, came forward, while the 19th reformed and pushed east to the I-10/I-410 junction near Fort Sam Houston. The two Mexican divisions had more zeal than competence, something their Soviet advisors had sleepless nights over, while the Cuban advisors were more upbeat. Division Monterrey relieved the 19th GMRD and resumed the advance into Downtown San Antonio. There, they met both the 1st Cav and 49th AD elements, and were severely mauled, the lead regiment taking over 80% losses-as well as to their heels. A short counterattack pushed forward, and abandoned weapons and ammunition, along with several 76-mm and 85-mm guns, were appropriated by the defense. A similar attack by Division San Luis Potosi met with a similar end just north of the I-35/I-10/U.S. 90 junction, where the 2nd AD's task force dealt the Mexicans a similar defeat. However, the defenders were soon in a tight spot, with only I-35 and F.M. 368 open as a way out, with the East Germans having cut U.S. 281 at the airport. That night, III Corps made a cold decision. The three battalion task forces would have to fight their way out. The whole idea was to delay the ComBloc advance, not deny San Antonio to the Soviets. Lt. Gen. Robert Rhodes (a descendant of a Confederate General) ordered the three TFs to meet up and fight their way north, as he needed every tank and APC he could use in a mobile defense further north. The battalion from the 49th AD, though, refused the order, while the two regular army battalions did meet up along F.M. 368, and pushed north. The 49th AD battalion, along with a TX NG independent air-defense battalion with M-42 Dusters (twin 40-mm SP guns) joined the remaining defenders in the downtown area. There, they dug in as best they could, with the remnants of 3-163 Cavalry holding the area around the Alamo. There, they vowed to hold out until the end. The Mexicans resumed the attack with Soviet artillery support at dawn on 11 September. Despite an hour's artillery preparation, and air strikes from Su-25s and prowling Mi-24 Hinds, the attack was a failure. Again, abandoned Mexican weapons were incorporated into the defenders' arsenal, while explosives from the SAPD's bomb squad proved useful in blowing down a number of bridges and channeling the attackers down specific streets-into kill zones. A second attack that afternoon by the Mexicans also failed, and General Trimenko had had enough. "Politics be damned," he roared at his staff. "Let's show these Mexicans how a Soviet Army handles issues like this." That night, the 20th Guards reoriented, with the 6th GMRD coming in from the west, the 14th GMRD from the south, and 19th GMRD from the east. The East Germans sent two fresh battalions from the 40th AAR, now fully established at the International Airport, while the 898th Air Assault Battalion made a dash for the I-35/I-37/U.S. 281 interchange, using captured civilian vehicles in a coup de main. 12 September dawned bright and early. At 0530, a massive Soviet artillery barrage rained over 2,000 shells on the downtown area, while Su-17 and Su-25 strikes came in as the barrage lifted. More bombs and rockets rained down, and as the air strikes ended, a further artillery barrage went in. The defenders' own guns had either been silenced for good or had pulled back with the two regular army task forces, so Soviet dominance was total. General Trimenko even had his SCUD brigade fire a number of missiles into the downtown area, hurling HE and Fuel-Air Explosive warheads into the area, before sending in his assault forces at 1000. All three divisions pushed into the downtown, and despite the air, artillery, and missile strikes, enough defenders survived to give the Russians a bloody nose. But the Soviets had both numbers and firepower on their side, and the defenders were soon squeezed into a pocket centered on the Alamo and the River Walk. A further artillery barrage followed, before the Alamo and the adjacent Rivercenter Mall were overrun. By 2100 it was all over in Downtown San Antonio. Of about 2000 who made the final stand, 350 survived to be taken prisoner, while others managed to go into hiding amidst the civilian population, with many of those later making good their escape into the Texas countryside. The two battalion TFs that did break out managed to get to Randolph AFB, after encountering an East German tank battalion along the way and wiping it out. There, they destroyed the base's hangars, workshops, and fuel storage, before pulling back out towards New Braunfels and Austin. Both battalions had suffered about 50% casualties in the battle and breakout, but had given the ComBloc a bloody taste of what could be expected further north. While 20th Guards Army reorganized and prepared to move north in pursuit, the KGB and Cuban DGI moved in, and a program of arrests, deportations, and executions began. That began a cycle of resistance and reprisal that continued until the city's recapture in 1988. Category:Battles of the World War III